Symantec Adds DRM To Norton Antivirus

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Symantec has begun adding digital-rights-management software to downloadable versions of Norton Antivirus 2003 in an attempt to foil software pirates.

For now, the DRM-equipped antivirus products have not been sold at retail, although a pilot retail program will be going into place “soon”, according to William Plante, director of worldwide security and brand protection at Symantec.

However, Symantec executives declined to reveal the DRM software being used by the Norton Antivirus products, although a spokesman said that he was told internal tests had indicated that the software did not write information to the boot sector; Macrovision’s SafeCast products write to the first track of the disk. Symantec executives also confirmed that their software does not use Macrovision technology.

Digital-rights-management software has become one of the most controversial linchpins of the new millenium. On one hand, corporations argue that they have a right to attempt to prevent illegal piracy, which can rob them of millions in otherwise potential sales. On the other, consumers have pointed out that the act of purchasing software, and owning it, should allow the customer great freedom in how he uses the technology. Intuit’s inclusion of DRM inside its TurboTax software provoked almost two months’ worth of controversy.

Microsoft operating systems used to be the most frequent targets of pirates, Plante said. However, after Microsoft began adding “activation” features to Microsoft Windows XP, the pirates’ focus changed.

“Right now the Symantec Norton brand is the most heavily counterfeited product that there is in general, based upon conversations from the antipiracy folks that we’re dealing with,” Plante said.

Symantec has begun taking a more active role in antipiracy efforts as the company’s software becomes more frequently pirated, Plante said.

Spam emails advertising pirated versions of Norton SystemWorks software products have become increasingly frequent, and Plante said federal law enforcement agents have reported over the last year that the company’s products are frequently targeted. Lisa Chen, a noted pirate, was sentenced last November to nine years in prison, for importing pirated software from Taiwan. Over 600,000 copies of pirated, silkscreened Norton Antivirus CD-ROMs were found, Symantec said then.

“I had a meeting with our president soon after that,” Plante said. “He said, ‘I want to have a DRM solution'”.

A spokeswoman for the Business Software Alliance in Washington said that while the industry group monitors software piracy, it does not maintain lists of which programs are the most frequently targeted.

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